What I’ve learnt from another Dry January.

01 Feb What I’ve learnt from another Dry January.

Is it just me or is January actually about 74 days long? Honestly, yesterday felt like January 62nd. BUT it is gone! Ding Dong the witch is dead.

My husband and I do Dry January every year because we like to save some money, regenerate a bit of our battered livers post-Christmas and hibernate. Initially, it’s really easy but as interminable January lingers on, it gets harder and harder and I confess I actually had a drink last Saturday (well, a few: there was a deal on bottomless prosecco at my friend’s baby shower).

So here’s the thing. It’s quite easy to give up the booze if a). you’re not planning on going out and b). you don’t mind the nights you do go out being a bit staid, but moving forwards, I really don’t want to slip back into my old drinking habits which have, on occasion, even included the odd glass of wine early on a Tuesday evening when the kids have been a particular brand of git. The other issue I have with being completely teetotal is that one can’t deny that a booze-free night isn’t as much fun as a booze-fuelled one. You can’t tell me that you’ve ended up going on some kind of mad adventure when you’ve been mad sober….

Now I realise that as a 45 year old mum of two little ones, those adventures have had to be kicked to the curb, but I wouldn’t take any of the other ones I had pre-kids back for all the tea in China. I’ve probably got a book in me somewhere (If I can remember the finer details of some of those nights).

So, here’s my next challenge: MODERATION. I actually think moderation is much, much harder than abstaining completely, but I am SO OVER feeling a bit shit, a bit under par and a lot like a rubbish mum.